Services

Acceptance Testing

New York and many other states require that new imaging equipment be tested before first use on patients. This is also recommended in the ACR Standard of Practice and in their Accreditation programs. UMP has extensive experience providing acceptance testing for new imaging equipment, including radiographic and fluoroscopic X-ray, C-arms, CT units, Nuclear Medicine cameras, PET and PET/CT units, MR units, mammography equipment, CR readers and PACS workstations.

Through our thorough testing and measurements, we have been able to help clients verify that their equipment meets manufacturer specifications and regulatory requirements, as well as identify any problem areas that will need to be addressed to ensure that their substantial investment in new equipment is maximized.

Most of our clients have felt that the cost of acceptance testing by an independent, experienced physics group is extremely worthwhile when compared with the overall cost of the new imaging equipment. They are especially grateful on those occasions when we have discovered significant problems that require correction before patient imaging begins (and before full payment is made).

We believe acceptance testing by an independent physics group such as ours is akin to having your car or house inspected by an independent party prior to purchase. It’s a relatively small investment for a fairly complex piece of imaging equipment. In past acceptance testing for other clients, we have identified issues that had required corrective action by the vendor. We have built excellent collaborative relationships with local service engineers, because we work together to ensure your imaging equipment works at its optimum performance.

Q&A

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Shielding Design
Protection of employees, patients, and the general public from primary, scattered, and leakage radiation is the primary goal of shielding design. UMP has provided shielding recommendations for hundreds of diagnostic installations, including radiographic, fluoroscopic, CT, nuclear medicine, PET, and PET-CT imaging equipment. We use the latest methodologies described in NCRP 147, to provide you with accurate, concise reports. We also have substantial experience with providing the paperwork required for Certificate of Need (CON) projects.

We strive to balance our main objectives of safety and regulatory compliance with cost and prudent design on every job. UMP can work directly with the architectural or construction firm, as needed and can provide expert advice on layout and other design features. We also offer quick turn around times for rush projects (3-day is available for single room projects).

Shielding design has really changed in the past 30 years. It has always been prudent to perform a shielding design for a new or renovated facility. With the latest changes in CT technology, we find that most existing CT scanner rooms need additional shielding to safely accommodate the new multi-detector CT scanners and their greatly increased mAs workloads. Because many facilities cannot verify the amount of existing lead in x-ray rooms, we are able to make an on-site determination of the existing lead, helping to maintain safety and minimize unnecessary expense.

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Consulting – Regulatory, Quality Control, Technology
Medical imaging is becoming anything but simpler. Not only is the technology becoming increasingly complex, there are a multitude of regulatory requirements and quality control tests that change continually. We pride ourselves in providing prompt, professional advice on regulatory, quality, and technology issues for all our clients. Your answer is just a short phone call or email away. When necessary, UMP consults with a network of colleagues in the regulatory, manufacturing, and physics communities.

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Procedures & Manuals
Most regulators and accreditation organizations (such as JCAHO) require imaging departments to have current written procedures that document routine department activities. Written procedures also help to ensure all affected employees are aware of expected practices. UMP has written concise, straight-forward procedures and manuals for numerous clients, and can tailor documents to fit most any format.

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Fetal Dose Estimates
When a pregnant patient is inadvertently exposed to diagnostic medical radiation, it is important to know the dose to the fetus. Based on imaging parameters provided by the client, UMP can provide an estimate of the fetal dose from diagnostic X-ray, CT, PET, or nuclear medicine procedures, and compare the dose to acceptable guidelines.

Click Here for an X-ray Fetal Dose Estimation worksheet.

Click Here for a CT Fetal Dose Estimation worksheet.

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Radiation Safety Training
Radiation safety training is integral for technologists, physicians, nurses, and others who may be exposed to radiation in the course of their work. Most regulators require initial radiation safety training for occupationally exposed workers, and an annual or periodic refresher.

UMP has provided hundreds of radiation safety presentations to all levels of staff. Our experienced instructors, who themselves regularly attend professional meetings and seminars, ensure that the most current information is provided, and can tailor courses to fit the needs of your facility. Contact us for more information.

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Personnel Dosimetry Analysis and ALARA Program
Whether film badges, TLD or OSL badges are used, management of personal monitoring systems and records are very important from a safety, regulatory and legal standpoint. UMP has helped clients with their dosimetry program in several ways:

• Review of dosimetry reports and generation of ALARA reports (Investigational Levels I and II)
• Investigations of high doses with follow-up regulatory support, if warranted
• Determination of which employees require a dosimeter by reviewing past histories and potential for exposures
• Reviewing the latest available client records online via the vendors website (e.g., Landauer, Global Dosimetry)

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Radiographic and Fluoroscopic Equipment Evaluation
Periodic performance evaluations are performed to insure the equipment is performing to manufacturer’s specifications essential for optimal image quality results. The performance tests, set by regulatory agencies, include: collimation, kVp accuracy, radiographic timer, mR/mAs linearity, tomography, fluoroscopic image quality, AEC performance, exposure switch, interlocks, half value layer, fluoroscopic timer, fluoroscopic exposure rates, and SID indicator accuracy.

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Magnetic Resonance (MR)
UMP has been performing MR Medical Physics Surveys for about 10 years when we purchased our first ACR MR Accreditation Program (MRAP) phantom. Though not required by NYSDOH (since no ionizing radiation is used), our clients have asked us to perform this service in increasing numbers over the past few years.

In 2005, the ACR MRAP has required that copies of the annual medical physics survey be submitted with accreditation materials for each scanner. Until 2005, the ACR would accept MRAP applications without this documentation, but no longer according to Theresa Branham, MRAP Manager at ACR.

The ACR MRAP Site Instructions recommend that facilities utilize their medical physicist to assist with the phantom imaging (acquisition and quantitative analysis) before these images are submitted to ACR. We have performed this service for many clients over the years, and have assisted with accreditation of more than a dozen MR scanners in 2007.

Since the ACR issued their newest White Paper on MR Safety in June 2007, UMP has provided many facilities (and their architects and planners) with guidance in design of new MR scanning suites and recommendations for safety improvement for existing suites. UMP is ready to help you to assure image quality, safety and assist with MR Accreditation.

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Entrance Skin Exposure Analysis/Entrance Skin Exposure Rates
ESE is the measurement of radiation output at the point of skin entry for common X-ray examinations. Based on our measured data and clinical techniques, we periodically report ESE and ESER, comparing the results with regulatory or advisory standards. Most importantly, we advise our clients about whether or not any changes should be made to provide optimized imaging at ALARA dose levels. With CR and DR imaging, this has become even more critical, since images obtained with too little or too much radiation do not appear light or dark.

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